Airplane rental in Ireland
 

Does anybody know of anywhere in Ireland where I can hire a C172 or PA28 without having to join one of the flying clubs?

I travel a lot for work but try to get back to Ireland as often as possible and it would be great to do some flying in my home country when I get the chance.

Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of flying clubs (and I am a member of three different clubs in other countries where I spend a lot of time). The problem is that all the clubs I have contacted in Ireland would require me to fork out about 1000 euros between joining fees and membership etc. This is a bit excessive for me as I am probably only in Ireland for a few weeks at a time and maybe only two or three times a year.

If it comes to it then I will join a club but I would prefer to avoid the extra cost if possible.

Thanks for the help.

The Amphibious Flying Club in Enniskillen have a very well equipped, IFR capable C152 (though you mention your requirement for a C172/P28A)

PM me if you need any further info.

HighFlyer,

You may have more luck on the Flying In Ireland forums. Should be plenty of folk over there who can advise you.

All the best,
Ryan

Hi Ryan,

I did try to join that forum so I could post the same question but I kept getting an error when I tried to register. I will keep trying though in case it is a temporary problem.

Thanks for the response though.

HF

It might also help if you give some sort of indication where in Ireland you base yourself when you come here.

Not much point making a recommondation for Enniskillen, or Weston for example, if you are based in Cork!

Help us to help you :)

HF,

Apologies, I should have said that in order to register you will need to send an email to the board admin Mark (mark at flyinginireland .com), with your requested user name and he will manually add you. Registration is turned off on the boards as an anti-spam measure.

Ryan

Well, to be honest, I am pretty flexible. I would primarily be in Galway during the periods that I am home but I don't have any problems driving somewhere else. After living in Australia for many years, the driving distances in Ireland just don't seem that big anymore. And I figure, once I am in a plane the distances mean even less.

My main goal would be to rent a plane (localtion flexible), fly to Galway (if not already there) and pick up some people and then just do some general sight seeing. Then drop the plane back same day if necessary or keep overnight / for a few days if possible.

HighFlyer75, you can rent a P28 (Warrior II) from Waterford Aero Club.

Waterford Aero Club - Welcome!

140 EURO per Tach hour. It's a fairly old aircraft though. Joining fee of about 10 EURO, if I recall right. I rented there a few weeks ago.

Good luck!

Hi Humhaw, just to clarify the membership rates for Waterford Aero Club: Yearly subscription costs 185 euro. Waterford Aero Club - Membership
This is probably one of the cheapest rates in the country!

Im led to believe the Amphibious flying club in Enniskillen (as mentioned above) have waived membership fee's for all of 2011!:D

Proably doesn't work for you being the wrong end of the country but I had a very positive experience in April 2010 of renting from Ulster Flying Club at Newtownards. At that time they had four 180hp C172, two glass panel and two conventional panel plus a 160hp PA28.

More on my experiences here:

FLYER Forums • View topic - Newtownards (EGAD)

Thanks all for the responses so far. I will be back in Ireland next week for a few weeks so I will have to work out my timing and see which one suits best (assuming the weather plays ball).

Hi AlphaLaura, I was charged a one-off single day membership of 10 euro. Just checked the receipt.

What about Spanish Point or Abbeyshrule, are they still operational?

Mutt